Suburban Raccoons

We had Grubs in our lawn and we really found out the hard way just how much damage they can do as well as from animals that like to eat the grubs. The first sign was that the grass was not doing well. The grubs eat the roots which of course causes the grass to die and thin out, especially if you have hot weather and little rain. If you are not watering your lawn all of the time on hot days, your grass will die off quickly just from the grubs alone. Then there is the Raccoon Lawn Damage that occurs which can be catastrophic.

Raccoon Lawn Damage

The second problem is that skunks and raccoons started digging for the grubs and leaving holes all over the lawn. They come at night to search for their dinner! Since the roots are eaten by the grubs, there is nothing to hold the thatch down, so the raccoons or skunks can basically just roll the lawn back to expose the grubs and have their dinner.

Even in one night, they can make a huge mess of your lawn. This can be quite serious especially if your lawn is not in good shape, to begin with. Basically, your lawn will be ruined and you will have to first kill the grubs and then repair your lawn by reseeding or placing new sod.  While not expensive, this is really a major irritant.

What Scares the Raccoons Away

Nothing scares them away. We would go out at night and chase them away and they would be back as soon as we left. Even leaving the yard lights on did not bother them at all. They would hide in the bushes and wait for us to leave. Once we were gone, they would be right back to their snacking on the grubs on our lawn.

The Grass is short on roots because of the grubs. The raccoons pull it up digging for the grubs and even roll it back as if you were lifting sod. The grass of course dies and you’re left with a really bad-looking lawn. It is not level and is a total mess with the raccoons or skunks coming back night after night.

What is the Solution to the Grubs and Raccoons

Basically, you need to kill the grubs. We found that three treatments of pesticide for grubs really did the trick.  We missed a couple of small spots and will catch them next year to make sure there are no more grubs on the lawn. With nothing to eat, the raccoons went to someone else’s lawn for their meal.

We used a pesticide to deal with this problem and it was effective. You do need to be careful when applying it to make sure that it does not spread further than you planned. So if it is a windy day, wait for another day to apply the pesticide. There are other solutions, but they really are not as effective.

Reseed the Lawn after Raccoon Lawn Damage

Reseeding of the lawn was needed afterward. The old dead grass was removed with a rake and the new soil and grass seeded added. I chose the soil and grass seed route instead of applying new sod, however both work equally well. Although you do have to be more patient with grass seeds and soil. It does need time to grow.

That all happened last year. Now this year we have a great lawn with no grubs and no raccoons or skunks visiting us at night! Basically, if there is no food source for the raccoons, they will stay away. They will look for food in other areas in other people’s lawns and their garbage. By the way, store your garbage inside or in animal-proof containers, otherwise, your garbage will be strewn all over the place. It is just not fun picking all of that stuff up.

If the raccoons have nothing to eat around your property, they will not stay and will go elsewhere to find their food. this is by far the best way to keep animals of this sort away from your property and doing damage to your lawn and/or to your buildings.

For more information about dealing with damage from Raccoons, click here.

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